


One Of Those Galactic Law Things

by GoldenUsagi



Series: The Third Kind [2]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-05
Updated: 2014-08-05
Packaged: 2018-02-11 20:47:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2082651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenUsagi/pseuds/GoldenUsagi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ficlet following The Third Kind.  In which Mycroft discovers Sherlock has abducted John.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Of Those Galactic Law Things

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by entanglednow and verdant_fire.

It had been six of Earth’s days when Sherlock got a notification that his brother’s ship was entering the system. His own ship was still hovering around the outer planets, John having wanted to see his own solar system a bit more closely before exploring other ones. 

Sherlock hadn’t minded the delay; it had given him a chance to make sure John wasn’t having any second thoughts. He had taken John to the Moon, then to Mars as well. John had laughed in that amazed way he had about being the first human to set foot on Mars—it had been the work of a day for the ship to create a spacesuit in John’s dimensions.

When John had casually asked what sort of limitations the suit had, that had led to a round trip of the other planets. The planets were beyond boring, Sherlock thought, being desolate and empty, but John seemed to be enjoying himself, so Sherlock decided that he was in no particular hurry.

But it was almost perfect timing that they concluded their tour as Mycroft entered the system. Sherlock preferred to be at least a system away from Mycroft.

It was unfortunate that Mycroft didn’t share this opinion. The comm beeped with an incoming message almost as soon as Sherlock had received the arrival notification.

Sherlock waved his hand, bringing up the holographic display from where he was seated. “Hello, brother dear.”

“Ah. English, British, Received Pronunciation,” Mycroft said, mirroring him. He was already in human form, Sherlock noticed. Discussions on Earth must be proceeding difficultly.

Undoubtedly Mycroft noticed that Sherlock hadn’t abandoned this form yet. He also couldn’t help but see John puttering around in the background.

Mycroft’s brows rose. “Sherlock, what is that?”

“He’s with me.”

“But who is he? Why is he there?”

“John. Because he wanted to come.”

Mycroft looked like he was visibly restraining himself. His visage actually _rippled_. “Sherlock, you know we have a policy against these... abductions.”

“That didn’t stop you from having a chat with the Tallian ambassador last cycle on an abandoned asteroid mine.”

“He needed some motivation to move in the right direction.” Mycroft gave him a dark look, testing out the expression on human features. “I returned him, didn’t I?”

Sherlock shrugged, purposefully looking bored with the conversation. It had always particularly annoyed Mycroft that the first body language Sherlock perfected in any form was the language with which to disagree with him.

“I do hope,” Mycroft said, raising his voice, “that you informed ‘John’ of your short attention span and reckless behaviour. Does he know what sort of association he’s beginning?”

John coughed politely in the background. “I could be wrong, but I think that’s none of your business.”

Mycroft’s expression soured, but he wasn’t actually about to converse with John himself. He addressed Sherlock again. “The Earthlings are paranoid to the extreme. I simply can’t have it getting about that you’ve taken one of them. Their media will run wild with it. The image we’ve only barely managed to cultivate will be completely destroyed by your being childish.”

Sherlock felt John come up behind his seat. “Sounds like we should get going, then,” John said. “If I’m light years away, I can hardly ruin your image.”

Sherlock regarded Mycroft coolly. “If that’s all, brother?”

Mycroft remained displeased, but it was clear to Sherlock that he wasn’t actually going to do anything. Forcibly returning John to Earth would accomplish nothing, and if Mycroft did anything else, it would be no different than Sherlock taking John.

“I do suggest a small reshaping before you make any appearances,” Sherlock said, eyeing Mycroft critically. “That form has a bit more mass than is optimal.”

With that, Sherlock cut the transmission. He turned to John. “We won’t be hearing from him for a while, at least. He’ll have his hands full with your maddening planet.”

“He didn’t seem to like me much.”

Sherlock stood. “There’s no one Mycroft likes.”

John nodded thoughtfully, then asked, “You make a habit of this, then? Taking people with you?”

“Not in the slightest,” Sherlock said. “No, he was incredibly surprised to see me with anyone.”

“Oh. Right.” Then John smiled. “Well, you’re the first alien I’ve run away with, so I guess that makes us even.”

Sherlock smirked.

“Er, I’ve been meaning to say that you don’t have to keep looking like that.” John waved his hand at Sherlock. “I mean, I didn’t really expect you to, I guess.”

“It’s the form you’re accustomed to,” Sherlock said. “Regardless of what you’re saying, this is already how you think of me. Even though you know I’m not human, you subconsciously find it reassuring to see a human face.”

John shifted his weight, gesturing vaguely in Sherlock’s general direction once more. “What I’m trying to say is that if you want to be... however, it’s fine. It would be fine.”

“Undoubtedly there will be situations where looking another way will be necessary. But this form, another form—it’s all just transport. It’s irrelevant to me.”

“All right. I just don’t want to impose.”

“I wouldn’t have suggested you come if it were an imposition.”

John smiled, completely at ease again. “Right. Well. I think you promised to show me the universe.”

Sherlock’s lips quirked. “Not exactly.”

“Oh?” John frowned slightly.

Sherlock brought up the navigation controls. “I promised to show you the interesting parts of the universe. The dull bits, we’ll skip entirely.”


End file.
